This review is for the Lipstick in Tropical Mist releasing with MAC’s upcoming Carine Roitfeld Collection. This post includes photographs and swatches:

Tropical Mist: Nude (Lustre)

Packaging:9/10

This lipstick comes in standard MAC packaging but has Carine Roitfeld’s initials on the base of the tube and has a black ring around the tube instead of a silver one. The tube is made of plastic and can easily be taken on-the-go.

Quality: 5/10

Tropical Mist is a nearly clear color. I am stunned by the almost non-existent pigmentation. Even layered over and over, Tropical Mist gives off a barely perceptible nude tint. Applied to the lips, this is little more than a clear chapstick or lip balm that you could purchase at your drugstore for a couple of dollars. There are tiny shimmer particles in the tube, but they are imperceptible on the lips.

If judged purely on its formula, this lipstick is emollient and keeps the lips moisturized. The product stays on the lips for about 2.5 hours if you are not eating or drinking, but will quickly transfer off if you are eating and/or drinking.

Ease of Use: 10/10

Because this lipstick gives off no color, it’s effectively fool-proof to apply.

Price:6/10

Normal lipsticks cost $15.00; this limited edition lipstick, with its slightly different packaging, costs $16.50 and contains the same amount as a regular lipstick–3 grams. I usually try to score the price in isolation of my judgment of the product’s quality (ie to give the Price score based on how much product you get and a comparison to how similarly-situated brands price their products). But I feel like I have to make an exception for this lipstick.

I just can’t see how it’s justifiable to charge more than the already-increased price of a regular MAC lipstick for something that I don’t think should even be considered a lipstick. If I don’t get any color from a lip product and if it gives off a balm finish… it’s really just a lip balm or chapstick. How can you charge $16.50 for it? Customers are already becoming growingly dissatisfied with MAC’s continuous price increases. MAC’s choice to try to get customers to pay this price for this product doesn’t help its case.